Abstract
The present study was devoted to identify the evolutionary path of a number of local systems in a Mediterranean country vulnerable to soil degradation (SD) in the last decades. A multivariate analysis was used to evaluate the socio-ecological conditions and to estimate rapidity-of-change of local systems by considering 6 bio-physical factors predisposing soil to degradation and 23 socioeconomic indicators over fifty years (1960–2010). Results indicate that systems’ development paths diverged during the investigated time period reflecting changes in the spatial organization and in the economic base of entire regions. Interestingly, economic performance and environmental quality do not seem to follow opposite trajectories. Local systems characterized by low per-capita income, agricultural specialization and population ageing, seem not to be associated with better and more stable ecological conditions. Local systems in affluent areas, featuring a mix of socioeconomic conditions with the prevalence of services in the economy and tourism specialization, showed relatively good ecological conditions and moderate-to-low SD vulnerability. Thus, affluent local systems do not necessarily reflect a higher pressure on the environment. These findings suggest that areas with a changing socio-demographic profile and a dynamic economic structure are compatible with low and stable levels of SD vulnerability.
Highlights
The analysis of socio-environmental systems is becoming a key target in research focusing on economic development and multi-scale policy responses to ecological changes [1]
According to the temporal and spatial patterns of 6 environmental and 17 socioeconomic indicators and 10 supplementary variables, the present study identifies the most important changes in the socioeconomic structure of Italian local systems during the last 50 years together with the variations in selected environmental conditions leading to a higher level of vulnerability to soil degradation (SD) (Table 2)
The changing socioeconomic structure was characterized by population ageing (STRDEP, ELD), a moderate increase in population density (DEN), a relatively rapid decrease in the size of industrial businesses (INDSIZ), a marked increase in land productivity (LAND) at least up to the early
Summary
The analysis of socio-environmental systems is becoming a key target in research focusing on economic development and multi-scale policy responses to ecological changes [1]. The complexity of the environmental phenomena and their interaction with social and economic processes represent an important challenge for the scientific approach and requires the development of advanced analytical procedures and adequate policy strategies [3,4,5,6]. The Lisbon strategy has put sustainable development at the heart of policy agenda in the European Union [7] and the objective of territorial cohesion was added as a third dimension to the already established objectives of economic and social cohesion [8]. Environmental trends, coupled with demographic and social dynamics shape Europe’s economic growth [9], representing a challenge for a balanced and sustainable development in the whole region [10]. The thorough evaluation of such issues requires a multidisciplinary approach and response assemblages should refer strictly to a sustainable, spatially-balanced development [15,16,17]
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